Distribution:Afrotropical. SENEGAL and southern MALI, NIGER, AND CHAD east to western ETHIOPIA, western KENYA, and TANZANIA, south to ANGOLA, northern NAMIBIA, and northern ZAMBIA. Virtually allopatric with the similar Dickinson's Kestrel (Falco dickinsoni). more....

Subspecies: Monotypic.

Taxonomy: Sometimes placed in the subgenus Dissodectes with the other gray kestrels, F. dickinsoni and F. zoniventris. Since this is an Old World species, "Grey" is the preferred spelling for the vernacular name.

Movements: Partial migrant (Bildstein 2006).
Mostly sedentary, but seasonal movements have been reported in West Africa, where the species moves north with the rains and south in the dry season (Gatter 1997, Borrow and Demey 2001).

Habitat and Habits: Common in moist palm savanna and woodland and also found in openings in secondary and primary forest. Forages over cultivated areas and open and burned grasslands. Spends most of its time perched on telephone and electricity lines, or on a snag in the top of a tall tree, scanning the ground for prey. Usually occurs singly, or in pairs, although foraging flocks may occasionally form in the vicinity of swarming termites. more....

Food and Feeding Behavior: Preys mainly on rodents, small birds, small reptiles, insects, and other invertebrate prey, which it takes from the ground after a dive from an exposed perch, or less ofter after an aerial pursuit. Unlike other kestrels, except for Dickinson's Kestrel, it does not hover. Smith (1957) observed these kestrels feeding in small parties on flying termites in Eritrea, Dellelegn (1994) saw 30 feeding together on termites in Ethiopia, and Dean et al. (1988) saw a bird in Angola running along the ground to capture harvester termites. more....

Breeding: Nests mostly in Hammerkop nests, or in holes in trees. It has been suggested that the distribution of the former nests is a limiting factor for the Gray Kestrel, but nests in the southern part of the range (Angola and Namibia) have in cavities in palm trees. Clutch size is 2-5, and eggs are white and oval-shaped, densely spotted with brick-red, orange-brown, umber, and lilac-gray (Clancey 1985). As with most Falco species, the male does most of the hunting, and the female performs most of the incubation duties. more....

Conservation: Uncommon throughout its range across western and central sub-Saharan Africa. This species may have benefitted from human land use and forest-clearing for agricultural purposes (Cade 1982, Brown et al. 1995), but in the southern portion of its breeding range, it is potentially threatened by the cutting of palm trees used for nesting (Brown et al. op cit.). Categorized globally as a species of "Least Concern" by BirdLife International. more....

Population Estimates: Little is known about the population size in most areas, but Jenkins and Brown (1997) estimated the number of birds resident in Namibia at about 40 pairs.